


The World According To Space Daddy

by ElizabethOlsenIsMySpiritAnimal



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Jaro Tapal Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:40:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21639724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElizabethOlsenIsMySpiritAnimal/pseuds/ElizabethOlsenIsMySpiritAnimal
Summary: Jaro Tapal survived Order 66.In retrospect, as he sits onboard the Stinger Mantis, the lone bastion of sanity in a sea of madness, he finds himself wondering if maybe being gunned down would’ve been the better option.
Comments: 250
Kudos: 410





	The World According To Space Daddy

**Author's Note:**

> I wouldn't take this one particularly seriously if I were you, I just wanted to experiment with the concept of Jaro being the Dad figure aboard the Mantis.
> 
> Also his lightsaber is really cool, so there's that.

//

On most days, Jaro Tapal is glad he survived Order 66.

Admittedly, it’s not like life has been particularly pleasant, being a fugitive from the Empire - and he’s still not sure how the hell it happened in the first place - but working the scrapyards on Bracca with the aid of his Padawan, Cal Kestis, beats being dead, or worse, in an Imperial prison cell. The Lasat Jedi Master has - like everyone else - heard things about the Empire, and none of them are good. He knows all too well that the Empire hates Jedi with a passion. As if the whole order being wiped out practically overnight wasn’t any indication, he’s heard through the grapevine that any Jedi unlucky enough to fall into the Empire’s grasp  _ vanish, _ never to be seen again. So, for the most part, every day that Jaro’s able to breathe free air, spend a bit more time teaching Cal the ways of the Jedi - quietly, of course - and make a bit of money so he isn’t starving, and hopefully, one day, get a ship so he and Cal can hide out somewhere other than the planet they’ve spent the first five years of the Empire’s existence on, is a good one.

Today is not one of those days.

Jaro’s in a different shift than Cal, a ploy done by them to evade Imperial notice, because a human and a Lasat working together on Bracca all but screams  _ Jedi, _ but he hears the explosions and gunfire all the same. He hears screaming and sees Stormtroopers rushing by, and what little he hears from their scattered yelling confirms that yes, his Padawan has fucked up yet again. He hears words like  _ Jedi on the loose _ and  _ Inquisitor _ and in-between wondering how the hell Cal got himself discovered and musings on what their escape plan is, Jaro finds himself going in the direction of the noise, somehow avoiding the notice of basically every Imperial in the area.

“Cal…” Jaro sighs, as he rushes to the rescue.

Cal has one half of his lightsaber, the other half is already in Jaro’s hand. The thing got broken in two when a lucky clone blasted the weapon apart at the hilt, but he’d been able to retrieve the other half on his way out, which was good, because otherwise, either he or Cal would be defenseless right now. Jaro leaps onto a building’s roof with a thump and hears the familiar sound of lightsabers clashing, and knows before he’s even got his Padawan in his sights that yes, Cal apparently saw fit to bring out his saber for  _ whatever _ reason and well, here they are.

There’s a woman clad in black fighting Cal, red saber against blue, and Jaro knows that Cal’s good enough to stand against your average saber-slinger, but he’s also aware that Cal has little experience on the battlefield, his reference for using a saber mostly restricted to what Jaro has taught him and the whole  _ I got shot at by my own troops _ thing. So, naturally, he ignites his own saber and leaps into the fray, driving the woman back with a series of fierce slashes and swings. His intention is to delay her long enough for him and Cal to run, but then a ship appears out of nowhere and a woman - one who seems to recognize him - beckons them aboard. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Jaro all but grabs Cal and dives into the ship.

And that’s where the real problems start.

//

Cere Junda, of whom Jaro Tapal held very short conversations with once or twice during Council meetings, has a very bold, and probably very stupid, idea.

Rebuilding the Jedi Order. Admittedly, it’s not a bad idea, in theory, it’s just that well, the Empire is a galaxy-spanning power. If they were still at war, that might’ve been one thing, but now, aboard this small ship with just him, Cal, Cere and Greez, to say that Jaro thinks it’s a bad idea in practice is an understatement. They have no formal political standing, no funding, just them and their wits. Cere talks a good game about a holocron that could give them the manpower needed to rebuild the Order, and Jaro would be all for it on a better day, but seeing as the Empire knows he and Cal live, he’s more of the opinion that they should try staying to the shadows and waiting until the Imperials give up the hunt. He has his hands full with Cal anyways-

“It’s worth a shot.” Cal says.

-Jaro sighs. Okay, well, looks like they’re gonna do it. He nods and puts on a brave face. “If anything, we should keep the holocron out of the hands of the Empire at the very least.” He interjects.  _ That _ at least makes sense with regards to seeking out the holocron. The Empire doesn’t need to have a batch of kids to torture or whatever they do with Force sensitives outside of the Inquisitors and Darth Vader. The Holocron being safely aboard the ship, with a Jedi Master in-hiding guarding it, beats it hiding out on some random world, just waiting for it to be stumbled over by a squad of stormtroopers expanding the Empire’s territory.

Hopefully, this little quest of theirs will be simple.

//

It is  _ not _ simple.

Jaro and company have been wandering about from world to world in search of one artifact or another, and all they have to show for it-

“Boo-weep?”

-is a droid stuffed to the brim with knowledge on the aforementioned. Okay, yeah, and a whole trail of dead stormtroopers. But still, all they’ve gotten for their efforts are a bunch of puzzle pieces, ones that Jaro, for all his wisdom, has no idea how to put together. Jaro considers himself a smart guy, you don’t get to be a Jedi Master by just swinging a lightsaber around and making He-Man noises, but Master Cordova must’ve loved puzzles or something, the way he’s got them going from places like Kashyykk to Dathomir and back again to grab one artifact and then shove it into another artifact so that both will give a third artifact that will probably lead to another one that in turn leads to the holocron.

Or something like that, like he said, he’s not a puzzles guy.

“Hey there, little guy.” Jaro says, picking up the BD unit that Cal picked up on their travels. “You got something for me?” 

“Boo-weep.” Trills the droid. 

“I see, Cal’s in the kitchen.”

“Boo-weep.” The droid sounds a bit worried, for some reason.

“And he’s helping Greez in the kitchen?” Nothing wrong with Cal setting the table, or something.

“Beep-bwoop.” 

“And this help happens to be more than just setting the table?” Jaro begins looking nervously in the direction of the kitchen. Despite his best efforts, he has never been able to teach Cal how to cook. Everything his Padawan touches in the name of cooking...well, Jaro’s kind of glad that he’s a Lasat, ‘cause he’s pretty sure he would’ve come down with food poisoning by now.

“Beep.” 

Jaro leaps off the couch and bolts for the kitchen, just as the fire alarm goes off.

//

Jaro Tapal does not like Saw Gerrera.

Mostly because the guy seems to think that everything around him are pawns to be used and sacrificed as needed in some galactic-scale game of chess. Sure, he’s polite and a good leader, but the man lacks compassion. Jaro’s heard how Saw fought alongside the Republic back during the Clone Wars, and apparently served with Anakin Skywalker - rest his soul - but the tales of a heroic resistance fighter clash with the present ruthless freedom fighter before him.

“You are Jedi.” Saw says, as if he can’t believe it, and to be fair, Jaro probably wouldn’t believe it either. 

“We are, and we’re here to help.” Cal says, and that Jaro can agree on. Liberating slaves from a refinery is just the kind of thing a Jedi has to do. So he tells Cal to go one way, and he’ll go what he thinks is the  _ harder _ way, and unfortunately, that means he’s in the thick of it with Saw, and he gets a front row seat to the man’s tactics. He does his part, don’t get Jaro wrong, Saw is effective, but he’s way too focused on the mission and not enough on his men.

Which is why Jaro gets shot protecting some of his men. Several times, in fact. Being a Lasat, he doesn’t go down easy, but he does have to bow out of the mission afterwards, which leaves Cal to do the rest of the gruntwork. Jaro contents himself by watching Cal’s progress through BD’s sensors and coaching Cal when he faces some obstacles he’s not sure he can bypass, and then the Ninth Sister shows up and Jaro  _ really _ wishes his ass was by Cal’s side and not currently in the Mantis’ medbay. He may or may not have said some  _ very _ un-Jedi like things during Cal’s ensuing fight. But Cal comes out of it alive, and that’s all that matters.

Jaro does fuss over him like a baby when he comes back, ignoring the fact that he’s the one with six blaster wounds and Cal doesn’t even have a scratch.

//

Folding laundry is surprisingly therapeutic.

At least, that’s what Jaro tells himself as he and Cere Junda exchange life stories over a mountain of clothes. There’s not much to be said about Jedi business, other than the whole “let’s rebuild the order by finding this holocron” thing and that time he’d opened Cere’s holocron - since apparently her connection to the Force is damaged, and he’s not a Consular so he can’t heal that - and spent some time imparting the wisdom within to Cal, with Cere explaining things that he couldn’t, those things usually revolving around Master Cordova. 

It’s been a good day so far, actually. His wounds are healing as expected, and Cal’s just out there on Dathomir, doing what needs to be done-

“Holy shit fuck take off!’

-and fucking it up, as usual. Cal, lightsaber broken and out of breath, all but dives into the Mantis, and Jaro’s immediate questioning response is promptly silenced when unearthly screams break the air, and then he’s all for taking off  _ right fucking now.  _ Jedi Master or not, Jaro  _ really _ doesn’t want to try fighting something that can make  _ that _ kind of noise. Not when his lightsaber is semi-functional most days and he’s aching all over from being shot like five times in the face.

“What’d you do, Cal?” Jaro asks, as  _ something _ slams into the Mantis’ hull.

“I pissed off a Nightsister.” The redhead gasps. “Oh, and I broke your lightsaber.” He adds, almost as an afterthought, as the ship dives into hyperspace with nary a care in the world.

“...Padawan…” Jaro groans, his voice almost fond.

“Sorry.” Cal says.

Looks like a trip to Ilum is in order.

//

A lot of things happen on Ilum.

Cal gets a new lightsaber, and frankly, Jaro admires its construction. It’s a blend of Cal’s own style and Jaro’s, and he has to admit, a saber that can split into two, in addition to being used in single or double bladed configurations, is pretty damn versatile. Cere gets a new lightsaber of her own, for which Jaro is thankful, mostly because it means he can have a decent parring partner again. And he fixes his own lightsaber, and he’s really happy about being able to use two blades in battle again. 

And then Cal gets kidnapped by some group that Greez pissed off and Jaro all but freaks out. Sure, Cal’s an idiot and impulsive and a terrible cook, but he’s the closest thing Jaro has to family - present company excepted - and he’ll be damned if he’s about to let his padawan die now, after five years having kept him safe from the Empire.

“If anything happens to him-” The Lasat growls.

Greez apologizes for the fifteenth time, and as they reach the arena that they’ve traced Cal to, they see that what’s going on in there is definitely not usual arena behavior. For one, there’s a gunfight going on, and then Cal’s sprinting in their direction, blocking laser bolts and swinging through the threats in his way between him and the Mantis. Jaro and Cere step into the fray, covering Cal, and they take off and run for the hills  _ again. _

“Don’t do that again.” Jaro says, tone fatherly - well, fatherlyish - and Cal nods. 

“Yeah, of course, Master.” 

//

Jaro dislikes Taron Malicos with a passion.

To be fair, the guy is trying to kill him, corrupt Cal, and carve an empire out of Dathomir or whatever the hell his ramblings of “family” and “people” mean, and Jaro’s not a fan of any one of those ideas. That, and he’s got red sabers, which basically scream  _ bad guy _ regardless of one’s philosophical stance regarding the Force. Jaro and Cal work well together, driving Taron back across the dais, but the man knows what he’s doing, and Jaro’s just freshly recovered from being shot. 

And then the Nightsister intervenes.

Jaro’s not entirely sure how he feels about a woman who sent a horde of zombies at Cal a few days prior offering to join the crew, but Cal seems to trust her, and Jaro trusts his Padawan’s judgement in any case. In any case, any doubts about this Merrin and her trustworthiness dissipate when he hears her life story, told over a dinner she’d prepared for the crew. So many similarities to himself and Cal, and if he finds himself being a bit protective over Merrin as they go into the field in the days to come, he tells himself it’s out of concern for her well-being. 

Cere teases him. Calls him the group’s “daddy”. Jaro resents that. He is a Jedi Master, and while he’s not the leader of this little group of misfits, he happens to be the most responsible, the most experienced, and his guidance of the others is simply to help them out-

-okay, maybe he is their daddy.

//

Cal finds the holocron and promptly loses it to Trilla Suduri, Cere’s old apprentice.

In-between mounting a  _ very _ daring mission to get that holocron back, Cal being knighted and preparing for said mission, Jaro fusses over his newly graduated Padawan like no one’s business, personally attending to Cal’s injuries from his fight with Trilla. His padawan grouses that he can totally handle it, and he probably could, but Jaro isn’t taking any chances. Not today, no. 

The mission itself is simple, go in, get the holocron, get out.

That somehow turns into marauding through the Fortress Inquisitorius, the trio of Jedi leaving a massive trail of bodies behind them, Cal somehow convincing Trilla to give up the Inquisitorial life, and a fight with  _ Darth Vader.  _ Even outnumbered three-to-one, Vader proves to be more than a match, knocking Cal and Cere aside like they’re nothing and giving Jaro a run for his money. It doesn’t take long before Jaro and Cal call a retreat, and he picks up his padawan and the hopefully defected Inquisitor and  _ runs.  _ He runs and runs right up until he runs into Vader, and BD apparently thinks its his time to shine because he leaps onto Vader and shocks the Sith right out of him...for about five seconds. And  _ then  _ Cere shows up and helps ward Vader off long enough for the group to escape via a smashed window that coincidentally leads into an ocean, and though Jaro puts a good effort into getting out of it, in the end, it takes Merrin’s powers to pull the soggy fivesome out of the ocean and back onto the Mantis. They’re bruised, bloody and in Trilla’s case, grumpy, but hey, they have the holocron-

-and then Cal chops it up.

“Their fates should be left up to the will of the Force.” He says, and, after a long, long moment spent staring at the fruit of their labors, now smashed to pieces, Jaro nods approvingly. Once upon a time, he would’ve proposed keeping the holocron, finding the children and rebuilding the Order, but right now...it’s for the best if those kids stay off the Empire’s radar.

“So where to next?”

//

Next turns out to be wherever they want.

The team - for that’s what they are now, one doesn’t go up against the Empire without bonding a bit, after all - helps the cause in small ways. An Imperial outpost here and there suddenly goes up in a ball of fire, a rebel cell gets some supplies or aid in a fight, and for the most part, Jaro thinks things have settled back to normal, well, as normal as you can get fighting the Empire. Trilla settles into the crew surprisingly well, admittedly, there’s a lot of issues she has to work through with Cere, but at least they’re not trying to kill each other, and as far as Jaro’s concerned, that’s good enough for him. In all honesty, he kind of forgets that Trilla was trying to kill them, once she grows comfortable enough with the group to talk freely and find her place in their dynamic. She spends a lot of time in the presence of Cal and Merrin, and for the longest time, Jaro assumes that she just simply identifies with them, they’re about her age, after all, and Cal makes friends a lot easier than Jaro ever has.

But as always, nothing is ever simple with Cal. One particularly quiet day, Jaro - arms full of groceries from the latest supply run - comes aboard the Mantis, and the first thing he notes is how quiet it is. Cere and Greez are in town, but he can sense the other three are in Cal’s part of the ship. That’s good, because he needs a bit of help with bringing in the groceries, since he can’t very well just levitate them in full-sight of the other people on the docks. They’re trying to keep a low profile, after all. As he marches over to Cal’s crook, determined to enlist the aid of his former padawan, Jaro hears  _ noises.  _ The kind of noises that suggest Cal is definitely not in a grocery-carrying state, and then the metaphorical nail in the coffin is when he hears Merrin - and Trilla, now that he thinks about it - shriek in a way that suggests they’re enjoying whatever’s going on behind that door. 

Jaro does an about face and marches back the way he came. No way is he getting involved with  _ that. _

//


End file.
